Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Inscriptions refer to this place as Yadava Narayana Chaturvedi Mangalam

Located
15kms from Pandavapura off the Melkote Highway in a serene location in the
Mandya District is the 1000years old Lakshmi Narayana (Nambi Narayana) Temple in Thondanur, where the lord is seen in a handsome tall standing posture. This
is one of the Pancha Narayana temples in this region. This place is now
referred to as Thonnur (and Thonnur Kere- reference to the huge dam 1km North of
the temple built by Thondanur Nambi).

While the
temple was renovated by Ramanuja during his exile from Srirangam, the idol and
the sanctum is said to be over 5500years old and dates back to the Dwapara
Yuga. Ramanuja built new mandapas outside the sanctum and renovated and
consecrated the temple.

While the architecture design is said to have come from the Chozhas, the temple was built by Hoysala Kings. There is no Raja Gopuram at the entrance as was the style of the Hoysalas. But the entire inner prakara and the outside walls have a strong Granite base structure and has a solid look to this day.

This is one of the three temples in Thonnur, the other two being Gopalakrishnan temple ( opposite the Nambi Narayana temple) and Yoga Narasimha temple.

The Story

At the
end of the Dwapara Yuga, in the Sura Sura war, Indra was afflicted with Brahmma
Hathi Dosham. To liberate himself from this, he undertook penance and invoked
the blessings for Lord Vishnu.

He was
directed to install 5 Narayana Idols in this region to liberate himself from
his dosham. Thondanur is the first and the oldest of the Pancha Narayana
Kshetrams. The others in this region being – Cheluva Narayana at Melkote,
Keerthi Narayana at Thalakkad, Veera Narayana at Gadag and Sowmya Narayana at
Belur.

Belief
is that one will attain Vaikunta Moksham if he visited the Pancha Narayana
Kshetram.

Inscriptions

There
are several inscriptions dating back to the 11th Century AD that
describe the contributions made by different rulers of that period to the
upkeep and maintenance of the temple and the conduct of various festivals
during the year.

A 12th
Century AD inscription in Tamil with Grantha Characters refers to a gift of
5Gadyanas of gold paid into treasury by Kunraara Deva Perumal Bhattar for
maintaining a perpetual lamp at Lakshmi Narayana from out of the interest
accrued upon the endowment.

Old Name

Centuries ago, this place was referred to as Yadava
Narayana Chaturvedi Mangalam. Inscriptions refer to Veera Narasimha, the
Hoysala ruler leading his kingdom with Dorasamudram as his capital and granting 64 gadayaanas to the people of Thondanur Agrahara for undertaking any
repairs to the temple.

Vahana Mandapa in the 12-13th
Century AD

A Vahana
Mandapa was erected in the 12-13th Century AD by Mahapradhana Srikaranada Heggade Naganna.

Hoysala Kings and Contribution

In
1174AD, Ballala II granted an income towards service of Lakshmi Narayana
Perumal. The king also granted income from an oil mill towards monthly oil for
Lakshmi Narayana. Hoysala King Bitta Deva constructed a new Mandapa at this
temple. During the rule of Hoysala King Narasimha III, there was a gift of 4Pon
annually for the maintenance of the huge Nandavanam at the Lakshmi Narayana
temple. Narasimha who ruled the kingdom from Kodala also granted lands for the
temple.

Inscriptions
in Kannada and Sanskrit on 15copper plates refer to Krishna Raja II, the King
of Mysore directing the conversion of two villages – Yadavapura and Attikuppam
to Agraharam so that the daily rites and festivals can be performed at the
Lakshmi Narayana temple. The Agrahara lands were divided into 112 vrittis and
distributed among Brahmana families who were invited from different parts of
the country to come and reside here permanently at Thondanur.

Regular Recital of Thiruvoimozhi

An 1175AD
inscription refers to a gift of gold to Viravallalan Mandapa at Lakshmi
Narayana temple by a staunch devotee who used to recite Thiruvoimozhi regularly
at this temple. In 1286AD, there was a grant of 10 Salagai of Kalani lands for food offerings to Lord
Lakshmi Narayana on the occasion of Thiruvoimozhi festival and for Prayischitam
Ceremony at the temple as well as for the consecration of images at this
temple. There was regular recital of Thiruvoimozhi inside the
temple here.

Food Offering for Lakshmi
Narayana

In
1214AD, the people of Thondanur came together and presented a gift of 100kuli
to Lakshmi Narayana for food offerings.

White Washing of the Temple

There was a grant of 50Gadyanas made in the 13th Century for white
washing the Viravallalan Mandapa at the Lakshmi Narayana Temple by
Thirunaraiyur Dasan.

From
Chennai, take Mysore Express to get down at Pandavapura station (630am). From
Pandavapura railway station, auto to the temple will cost Rs. 110/- (it will
take about 20minutes)

Also, one
can take a share auto from railway station (Rs. 5) to Pandavapura bus stand and
then take a Narayanapura / Kamakana Halli bound bus to get down at Thondanur
(buses every one hour). It will take 30minutes from Pandavapura bus stand to
reach Thondanur.

When at Thondanur, also visit Gopalakrishna Temple and Yoga Narasimha Temple. Also, visit Thiru Narayana Temple at Melkote, about 20kms from here.